Employer WellnessEmployer wellness programs and employer wellness consulting services

Medical screenings are important programs to identify chronic disease in their early stages. Once identified, wellness intervention programs can help prevent a illness from progressing.

Working with local hospitals and other organizations, you are able to obtain information on providing screening and intervention programs that could improve your employees’ health and save your business money in absenteeism, treatment for disease complications, and lowered productivity.

Below are some ideas to help get you began.

Based on your Employee Needs and Interest Survey and the demographics of your workplace, consider offering periodic screenings to find specific health risks like –

• Blood Pressure (BP) Checks to identify workers with pre-hypertension or hypertension (high blood pressure),

• Cholesterol Screenings for total, HDL (good cholesterol), LDL (bad cholesterol) and/or Triglycerides

• Blood Sugar Screenings fasting or non-fasting to screen for possible diabetes,

• Body composition, such as Body Mass Index (BMI)  or body fat measures

• Bone density for potential risk of osteoporosis,

• Cancer screenings like, skin examinations, mammograms, or PSA screenings,

• Vision checks for glaucoma, or visual acuity

• Other screenings depending on your staff member population and needs

Your local hospital, corporation physician practice, or health department my provide assistance. Notwithstanding, if you’ve a young workforce you could want to concentrate on programs that will keep them healthful rather than screening for early identification of chronic condition.

The focus of your wellness program could  be healthful lifestyle practices to reduce risk and prevent illness.

In addition to the health screenings, consider offering a Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal} to all staff members. the Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal} will help to identify factors that may lead to additional risks, such as use of tobacco history, stress levels, perception of health, family history, job satisfaction, support systems, and mental health.

Often the screening results are included on the Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}, which provides a more extensive snap shot of health risks. the summary results provide the important information to plan appropriate interventions.

Wellness Program Interventions

The key to the success of screenings and Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s / Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s is the interventions or follow-up programs. the information from the screenings increases awareness and often arouses workers to consider making healthier changes.

It’s the follow up interventions that provide the essential support and assistance needed for staff members to actually make and maintain those changes.

The interventions can include individual follow-up and ongoing counseling, individual or group health coaching on the risk factors, behavior change programs, and/or organizational support. Examples include –

• Strategies to lower blood pressure

• Managing diabetes

• Taking care of your heart

• Healthful eating

• Weight loss strategies

• Increasing exercise

• Use of tobacco Cessation

Of course, this is for individual information only. Any follow-up interventions planned by the company would be based on interest expressed by the staff member.

Based on the results and your Wellness Committee objectives you can plan the best strategies for your corporation and staff members. Consider the community resources available to provide services, such as health associations, hospitals, healthcare providers, and/or public health agencies.

The Quick Wellness Program Ideas provides Quick program idea tips for your consideration. Also refer to Prevention Strategies to determine the best approach for your business based on the wellness budget to reach the desired outcomes and objectives established.

Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s, are an assessment tool or questionnaire scientifically designed to identify health risks and outline information to assist person in making healthful changes that impact their health and prevent chronic condition.

Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s have four standard elements in worksite establishings –

• A Questionnaire

• A Computerized Program to Evaluate Health Risk

• Confidential Individual Reports

• Group Summary Report

Individuals complete a lifestyle questionnaire that includes for example nutrition practices, height and weight, exercise habits, family history, stress perceptions, use of tobacco history, and work satisfaction.

Another important feature to consider is readiness to change questions to determine participation interest. Including medical testings like cholesterol and blood pressure (BP) leads tocreases the benefits of an Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal} by providing a more precise health assessment and therefore improving lifestyle option decisions and program options.

Nonetheless, it’s important to determine when the Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal} could be used without including this information.

The questionnaire information is entered into a computer program and a personal confidential report is generated that summarizes health risks as well as information on how to lower risk factors.

Individual reports are completely confidential. Depending on the reason for starting the Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}, it’s important to consider the type of report the business will receive as well.

A group report summarizing major risk factors and recommendations for programs to implement in order to reduce employee and company risks provides valuable information for your wellness program.

The Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s / Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s may be used to –

• Bring awareness to individual employee’s health status

• Motivate employees to make healthier lifestyle changes

• Coach high-risk employees

• Plan wellness programs based on the identified needs

• Evaluate program success by comparing Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s / Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s completed at set intervals like each year.

There are many benefits to considering a part-time or full-time occupational and environmental health nurse (OHN). Occupational health nursing is the specialty practice that provides for and delivers health and safety programs and services to staff members, and worker populations.

The practice focuses on promotion and restoration of health, prevention of illness and injury, treatment of work and non-work related injuries and diseases, and protection from work related  and environmental hazards.

OHN roles can include –  Case management, Counseling, Wellness, Legal and regulatory compliance, Clinical services, and Hazard detection and controls.

The American Association of Occupational and Environmental Health Nurses is the national association, www.AAOHN.org. the State Chapter also has a website with information including local chapter information to help you find a contact near you, www.NCAOHN.org.

Health educators can design, conduct and evaluate activities that help improve the health of all your workers. They’re subject matter professionals who could  be a asset regardless your program needs and objectives.

They can help form a Wellness Committee and implement many of its programs and services, for instance or depending on the structure and time commitments of your Wellness Committee, they can also coordinate the entire program as well.

Integrating the activities of the Committee and/or Wellness Expert services within your operations, including within your safety and occupational health program will provide additional benefits!

We are planning corporation wellness programs to help you feel better and stay healthy. In order to plan programs that best meet your needs and interests we would like your suggestions!

Please take several minutes to answer some questions about your interests. Your answers will be combined with those of other’s and reviewed to help plan programs for you. Don’t sign your name.

Please complete the survey today and return it to__________. Thank you for your valuable input! Your help is important for planning successful programs. Return the completed form by _____________.

Rate your interest on a scale of 1 – 3 with one (1) being of little or no interest; two (2) being of some interest and three (3) indicating that you are very interested. Indicate your response by circling or “Xing” the number.

I am interested in –

Participating in wellness programs before work 1 2 3

Participating in wellness programs after work 1 2 3

Participating in wellness programs during my lunch break 1 2 3

Learning healthful consuming options to lose weight 1 2 3

Sports nutrition 1 2 3

Healthier cooking 1 2 3

Assisting my kids eat healthier 1 2 3

Quick, healthful meals for busy lifestyles 1 2 3

Healthy snack options 1 2 3

Learning how to quit tobacco use 1 2 3

Attending courses to help me quit tobacco use cigarettes 1 2 3

Stress Mangement skills 1 2 3

Balancing work, family, and personal life 1 2 3

Time management skills 1 2 3

Participating in a beginning fitness program 1 2 3

Planning time to exercise for busy people  1 2 3

Getting medical information that I can peruse or watch at home 1 2 3

Learning about cancer prevention 1 2 3

Heart health options 1 2 3

CPR and First Aid 1 2 3

Team sports activities at work 1 2 3

Learning how to stretch 1 2 3

Learning how to raise intake of fruits and vegetables 1 2 3

Parenting Topics (age of children –  ) 1 2 3

Onsite exercise classes –  walking Yoga aerobic other –  1 2 3

Biometric testing such as blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar 1 2 3

Program analysis may  be the last step, but it should be planned at the starting of your efforts!  Examination assists you identify what parts of the program are working well and what parts need improvement.  

Then, based on the analysis data, adjustments can be made to fine-tune your wellness program.   Adjusting the program based on analysis data is vital to its continued success.  

Reviewing your program does not have to be complicated.  HOWEVER, it’s important to plan how you’ll monitor your wellness efforts and determine success during the planning phase.  

Additionally remember to evaluate the program based on the goals and goals you already identified during your planning process.  

In order to evaluate your program you need to have a system to document specifics as you go along.  This could be as simple as maintaining file folders on programs that are offered, or a computer document with a table or spreadsheet summarizing information accumulating.  Consider –

• Program topic and numbers of workers who participated

• the numbers of  flyers taken by workers or distributed and on what topics

• the number of participants in a behavior change program and how many met their objectives in addition to how many attended all the sessions

• Numbers of workers who continued the healthful behavior change following the program?

• Overall employee satisfaction with the program or each topic.  Here is a sample evaluation form.  

Depending on your objectives and objectives, gather desired data and compare it to previous data accumulated during the initial assessment to determine if the objectives were met.  Such data might include

• Absentee rates

• Injury rates

• Health risk factors Insurance costs  

Summarize and Report Wellness Program Results

Once you have gathered all the investigation information it needs to be reviewed with the Wellness Committee and summarized.  You will probably have positive results and some areas where a change is needed or additional focus required for continuous improvement.  

This not-so positive information can be used to make any needed changes in addition to to plan for next year and is important to include in your report.  

It’s important to communicate the wellness program results to both management and staff members.  Consider how management normally receives reports on operations and productivity issues and include the annual wellness program report in the same format.  

At some corporations the reports are made during management meetings using presentation styles like power point slides.  At other corporations, graphs and bar charts are the norm or a list of the goals and the summary outcomes reported.  

No matter the format, it’s important to convey the outcomes and successes achieved, including any anecdotal stories, in addition to areas for improvement.  Be certain to link the outcomes to the corporation mission and bottom line whenever possible.

Workers want to receive the same information!  Consider using the same communication channels used when informing employees of the wellness program –

• Corporation newsletters,

• Bulletin boards,

• E-mails  

Additionally consider celebrating successes and recognizing achievements by –

• Posting pictures from events

• Highlighting success stories

• Posting pictures of successes

• Scheduling a celebration

• Recognizing champions  

Armed with data, Wellness Program topic preferences, goals, and goals – and a Wellness Committee rearing to get things done – it is now time to decide how best to take action.  This website provides tools to help you!  

You can read about the different kinds of wellness programs offered by other businesses to get an idea of what may work for your company.  

If your planning phase was well executed, you should simply have to follow through with the plans you have already made.  

Important Wellness Program considerations include –  

1. Formally Introduce the Wellness Program and consider policy statements that state the importance of the wellness program.  Examples include a general policy regarding the commitment to employee health and safety as well as specific policies like No Tobacco use, Healthy Consuming and Exercise.

2. Communicate Your Program –  the best planned program with excellent wellness programs won’t be beneficial if your staff members don’t know about it or don’t understand the choices or how to participate.  Communicate your wellness program using a variety of methods to ensure the message and “how-to’s” are heard!

Wellness Program Communication Strategies could include –

• Newsletter articles

• Postings on the corporation’s intranet or internet

• A designated Champion of the program

• Formal or informal meeting to announce program, “the kick-off”

• brochures / table tents,

• Bulletin boards / kiosk where all material is promoted or found,

• Email / phone messages,

• Mailings or distributions  

3. Use Wellness Program Incentives –   You will be amazed to find out what people  will do for a free T-shirt.  Incentives can both support and motivate participation among employees.  

Consider both formal or corporation incentives and informal or program rewards/prizes from local resources to reinforce participation in Wellness Programs. Either way, it’s important to provide incentives that are attractive and meaningful to your workers.

Business Structural or Formal Wellness Program Incentives –

• Discounts on employee medical insurance premiums or co-pays, or contributions to 401K programs, employee stock choices, or other mechanisms.  Click here for more information on medical plan incentive ideas

• Fitness Club/Fitness Club discounts or enrollment fee coverage

• Public transportation vouchers

• Flexible work time options

• “Wellness Days” off work  

Rewards/Prizes or Informal Wellness Program Incentives –

• Cash – a very effective incentive!

• Prize incentives such as gift certificates to heart healthy restaurants; music player to use while exercising, emergency kits, or any other prizes that would motivate your staff members.

• T-Shirts, water bottles, or other low cost rewards

4. Assess community resources available to provide some of the wellness services.  The local health department or your company health care provider could  be able to assist you with this information.  There are also vendors throughout the State providing excellent wellness services for corporations.  They are available to help you strategize and find the best options available.

5. Implement your program as planned documenting information and outcomes as you go like numbers of participants, dates of activities, and any other special details you are tracking.

The Wellness Committee ought to set out a plan for the entire year that outlines accomplishing goals and goals, as well as provides details for advertising and marketing and analyzing  the program.

The plan is the detailed map of what types of programs will be offered, when and where they’ll be scheduled, how they’ll be marketed and evaluated, and what the budget is.  

It is important to plan your wellness activities based on your goals and goals, as well as the budget since different strategies will yield different outcomes.  For  instance, if your objective is to increase awareness on a topic, then distributing  pamphlets or scheduling a one-time education session could  be appropriate.  

Nonetheless, when your goal is to change behavior, then different strategies may  be necessary, like ongoing weekly sessions and support groups.  Click here to link to Program Design Options for more ideas.

Wellness Program Marketing

This is the time to plan your advertising strategies!  How can you market the wellness program and ongoing activities?  No matter how you decide to, market often, keep it fresh, and remind staff members again and again!  

Consider having an overall kickoff activity to let everyone know about the wellness program.  Upper-Level Management ought to provide the introduction or invitation so that all employees are aware of their support and leadership in the program.

Possible marketing and advertising methods –

• Sending email messages, including reminders

• Posting flyers,

• Displaying bulletin board postings,

• Writing articles,

• Sending letters or

• Sending special invitations.  

Other Wellness Program Considerations –

• is the program promoted to all employees or to a specific target audience?

• Do you have a program champion (someone who’s connected with different groups in the organization, and well respected) who can help in your promotion efforts?

• When your advertising and marketing efforts do not seem to be working, do you have a way to revisit and adjust your strategy?

• How’ll you determine success and evaluate your program?  and how’ll you collect the information needed to evaluate your program?  

Topics most often included in Wellness Programs –

• Nutrition

• Exercise/Exercise

• Tobacco Use Cessation

• Bone Health

• Heart Health

• Healthful Back

• Stress Reduction

• Chronic Condition Awareness and Prevention

• Self-care; Wise Healthcare Consumer

• Screening Services (BMI, blood pressure, bone density, cholesterol, glucose, posture, vision, and other…)

• Ergonomic Assessments

• Health Fairs

• Kids/family Events

• Others topics that workers have interest in  

The topics and kind of Wellness Program planned depend on the needs and interest, overall goal and resources available.  

Program Design Options include awareness programs such as  handouts and/or education sessions, behavior change or modification programs such as use of tobacco cessation and weight loss classes, and environmental or organizational support such as no use of tobacco policies or healthy selections in vending machines.  

The programs planned also depend on the demographics of your workforce.  If you have a young, healthy workforce, you might want to focus the wellness attention on keeping staff members healthy and not need to screen for illness.  

Instead you may want to focus on healthful lifestyle behavior like exercise and good nutrition to prevent the begin of illness.  Click here for additional information on strategies for keeping workers well, identifying illness early, or returning workers to work who already have a chronic illness.

It’s also important to consider, and plan how you will evaluate the success of your wellness program.  The system needs to be established for tracking certain data and recording events depending on the program objectives and desired outcomes.  

Step 7 discusses program examination in more detail.   and Step 6 will launch your program!

A Wellness Program without goals and goals is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you will not know where you’re going, how to get there, what you want to do once you’ve arrived, or even whether or not you’ve arrived!  

The trip might end up ok, or it might end up disastrously.  Yet, with a little thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a successful experience.  Clear objectives and objectives are needed to plan your wellness program for ensure success!

Wellness program objectives and objectives are different from one company to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources.  However, well thought out objectives based on your corporation’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a successful wellness program!

Wellness Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Wellness Program. the mission statement is the overall expression of what the Wellness Committee wants to accomplish by beginning a wellness program.  

It’s important to consider how your Wellness Program fits in with the corporation mission statement, contributes to the overall mission and supports the corporation bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the corporation operations.  

Here are some examples of Wellness Program mission statements –  

At XYZ Corporation, maintaining an environment that supports worker health and safety is our underlying value.  It is the mission of the Wellness Program to assist in developing wellness services that fosters and upholds that value.

It is the mission of the XYZ Wellness Committee to foster healthier lifestyle choices to reduce health risk factors, improve overall well-being, and maintain a productive, active work force.

Wellness Program Goals

The objectives and objectives further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, management expectations and employee interests, examples of objectives can include –  

The goal(s) of XYZ Wellness Program in year XXXX is to –   (one or more of the following examples)

• Reduce absenteeism by one day per staff member

• Lower musculoskeletal injuries by 10%

• Decrease unnecessary emergency room visits

• Decrease or contain health care costs

• Improve dietary habits of employees

• Reduce health risk factors  

Wellness Program Objectives

Specific Wellness Program objectives help meet your long-term objectives and vision.  Both short term and long term objectives must be created as the stepping stones to accomplish the objectives and mission.  

In addition to goals for the expected participant outcomes, process goals should also be developed for the program process itself.  For  instance, process goals may include how many workers you want to participate in the programs, how many sessions on a topic will be offered, the type of wellness sessions that’ll be implemented, etc.

Objectives need to be easily measurable within a set time frame.  Attempt using the SMART formula to develop both your long and short-term goals and goals –

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)

• Measurable (one result that can be observed or evaluated),

• Attainable (but also challenging),

• Realistic (do you’ve the resources to achieve?), and

• Time specific (within 3 months – up to 5 years)  

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  For  instance, an objective for a weight loss program that has an overall goal of bettering healthful consuming and promoting a healthful weight is that –  

Participants (who) will lose an average of .5 – 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) at the end of the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per participant (attainable and realistic).

Or –  

Participants (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier consuming change after the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of an objective for coaching employees with elevated cholesterol could  be –  

To reduce the total cholesterol (specific what) of high risk staff members with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions offered at the worksite (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic and time specific when) to lower the risk factor for heart illness (why).  

And one last example of a process objective for a use of tobacco cessation program with an overall goal to assist participants in committing to quit for life –  

By the end of the 4-week use of tobacco cessation program, 10 percent of the participants will have quit use of tobacco.  Each participant will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process objective) and 10 percent of those who quit will still be smoke free after one year.

You’ve now completed Steps 1 through 4, including establishing your Wellness Committee.  It is now time to plan your wellness activities!

Before you begin planning your Wellness Program you need to know where you are now and then decide where you want to go.  Completing a thorough needs assessment is critical to the success of your wellness program for two reasons –  

• First it ensures that your program activities will be targeted to meet your corporation’s specific needs so that outcomes can be achieved.  

• Secondly the needs assessment provides the information you’ll need to evaluate the effectiveness of your wellness program.

It is often tempting to rush the assessment – particularly when time is limited or those with experience already have an idea of needs.  Don’t give in to this temptation!  

It is vital to understand what your corporation needs are, what management expects, and what employees want as well as expect, before you develop a program.  

Consider and gather data on –

• Demographic Information

• Health Risk Factors

• Medical Claims

• Injury Rates and Causes

• Workers’ Compensation Claims

• Short and Long Term Disability Claims

• Absenteeism

• Culture Audits

• Staff Member perceived needs and health risks

• Management expectations or desired outcomes

There are many ways to assess this information.  Although some of data gathering process might  be time consuming, remember that it’s nonetheless essential to plan programs that target specific issues.  

This information will be vital to set goals and for assessing  program success.  How else can you know if outcomes have been achieved?

Choices to help gather the wellness program information –

• Confidential Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s with a Business Group Summary Report click here for more information on Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s or Assessments

• Biometric Testings such as cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar click here for additional information on biometric testings.

• Staff Member Needs and Interest Surveys

• Suggestion boxes placed around the organization

• Focus Groups or hosting a luncheon meeting as a focus group

• Sending out a confidential email questionnaire

• Review records and databases including OSHA logs, first aid reports, insurance costs  

Once your needs assessment is complete, the Wellness Committee can review the results and start planning and prioritizing program options.  

Planning should be based on goals and identified outcomes, Step 4 of the seven step process!

Establishing an active Wellness Committee provides opportunities for both management and worker involvement in the program.  The Committee must be a team of employees and managers who formally meet to plan activities to promote healthier worker lifestyles.

Typical Functions of a Wellness Committee –

• Analyzing needs and interests

• Brainstorming program ideas

• Planning activities

• Developing communication plans

• Promoting programs to coworkers

• Serving as champions of the Wellness Programs

• Helping with evaluation  

Your Wellness Committee must be representative of all levels of the corporation.  Consider all areas of the workforce – multiple sites, shift staff members, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.  

It’s also important to consider who will chair or co-chair the Wellness Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support a wellness manager or occupational health specialist, even on a part-time or contractual basis.  Click here for more information on the advantages of a health specialist.  

Depending on your business size and resources, if you already have a business Safety Committee you might want to consider making it the Safety and Wellness Committee.  You can request volunteers or invite staff members to participate.  

The number of Wellness Committee members depends on the size of your company; nevertheless, you need enough members to get the work done and yet not too many to keep it manageable, normally a minimum of 4 members and maximum of 12 to 15 members.  

It’s important to include skeptics of wellness as well and not just those employees already practicing healthful lifestyles.  

Depending on your worksite, consider representatives from the following areas –

• Employee representatives from a cross section of different departments,

• Management/leadership,

• Health and safety expert(s),

• Human resources (HR)  expert(s),

• Benefits staff or someone from finance,

• Your employee assistance program (EAP) provider (if applicable), Click here for more information on EAPs

• Medical or occupational health staff (if applicable).

Establish an effective Wellness Committee!  the Wellness Committee ought to meet regularly with a planned agenda and action items.  Successful Wellness Committees have a shared mission, vision and goals.  

Members need to believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated, that their work is important, benefits the organization and colleagues, and they’re recognized for their contributions. Refer to the NC Workplace Programs section for instances of what other businesses have implemented.